Duke Ellington

4 STARS DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

INCLUDES 7 BONUS TRACKS

This release presents the celebrated original album "Battle Royal –Duke Ellington Meets Count Basie" (Columbia CS8515), in its entirety. The LP marks the only collaboration ever recorded between the two legendary big band leaders. As a bonus we have added recordings of Basie playing Ellington’s “In a Mellow Tone”, “I’m Beginning to See the Light”, “What Am I Here For?” and “Perdido”, as well as Ellington’s rendition of Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump”, and the original versions of “Wild Man Moore” and “Battle Royal” from Ellington’s soundtrack to the film Paris Blues.

PERSONNEL:

THE DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA (heard on the right channel):
Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ed Mullens, Fats Ford (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln),
Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Louis Blackburn (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl),
Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (as), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bar),
Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn (p), Aaron Bell (b), Sam Woodyard (d).

THE COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA (heard on the left channel):
Thad Jones, Sonny Cohn, Snooky Young, Lonnie Johnson (tp),
Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell (tb), Marshall Royal (cl, as),
Frank Wess (as, ts, fl), Frank Foster, Budd Johnson (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bar),
Count Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Sonny Payne (d).
New York, July 6 & 7, 1961.

[11-17] (*) BONUS TRACKS :
11: COUNT BASIE and His Orchestra. New York, August 16 & 17, 1954.
12: COUNT BASIE and His Orchestra. New York, January 4, 1956.
13: COUNT BASIE and His Orchestra. Los Angeles, April 28, 1956.
14: COUNT BASIE and His Orchestra. Live at The Americana Hotel, Miami, May 31, 1959.
15: DUKE ELLINGTON and His Orchestra. Live at Travis Air Force Base, Suisun City, CA, March 4, 1958.
16-17: From DUKE ELLINGTON’S PARIS BLUES soundtrack: LOUIS ARMSTRONG (tp soloist) with studio
orchestra conducted by DUKE ELLINGTON. Paris, France, December 15-16, 1960.

TRACKS:

01 BATTLE ROYAL
02 TO YOU
03 TAKE THE “A” TRAIN
04 CORNER POCKET [aka UNTIL I MET YOU]
05 WILD MAN [aka WILD MAN MOORE]
06 SEGUE IN C
07 B D B
08 JUMPIN’ AT THE WOODSIDE
09 ONE MORE ONCE
10 BLUES IN HOSS’ FLAT [BLUES IN FRANKIE’S FLAT]
11 PERDIDO (*)
12 WHAT AM I HERE FOR? (*)
13 I’M BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (*)
14 IN A MELLOW TONE (*)
15 ONE O’CLOCK JUMP (*)
16 WILD MAN MOORE [Paris Blues version] (*)
17 BATTLE ROYAL [Paris Blues version] (*)

TOTAL TIME: 78:42 Min.